Climber in T-shirt and tennies slides down Mount Shasta

A Washington man attempting to climb Mount Shasta in shorts, a T-shirt and tennis shoes was rescued from the peak Monday afternoon after he slipped on ice and slid down the mountainside.

A Washington man attempting to climb Mount Shasta in shorts, a T-shirt and tennis shoes was rescued from the peak Monday afternoon after he slipped on ice and slid down the mountainside.

Oleg Maslov, 21, of Tacoma, was treated for cuts and scrapes to his hands, arms, legs and back at a Northern California hospital, said Susan Gravenkamp, a spokeswoman for the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office, in a news release.

Gravenkamp said Maslov and three friends had decided to climb the mountain and that Maslov, in the rear of the group, slipped on an ice field and slid down the mountain.

Another climbing party came across him and used his cell phone to call the Sheriff's Office at 11:10 a.m. in the Green Butte Ridge area on the mountain's southwest side above Lake Helen, she said.

The other climbers moved Maslov to Lake Helen, and a helicopter rescue crew picked him up there and took him to the hospital, she said. The rescue crew said he had suffered abrasions to his hands, arms, legs and back, according to the sheriff's news release.

Maslov told rescuers he had no idea of how far he fell, but said he quickly lost sight of his three friends.

Maslov told the sheriff's office that he tried to dig into the ice with his hands but was unable to stop himself, Gravenkamp said. He said he and his friends were inexperienced climbers and had no climbing equipment or helmets with them, Gravenkamp noted.